Chapter 10 - THE BETRAYAL INSIDE THE HOUSE
Ethan called Sophie’s nanny so quickly he nearly dropped his phone.
No answer.
Again.
Nothing.
His face drained.
Norah had never seen him afraid like that.
They were in the car before the investigator finished saying backup was on its way.
“Ethan.”
He gripped the steering wheel.
“She’s fine.”
“You don’t know that.”
“She has to be.”
Norah touched his arm.
“She has people around her.”
“Martin is one of those people.”
They reached the penthouse building.
Security officers met them downstairs.
Martin Cole had disappeared twenty minutes earlier.
But Sophie was safe.
She was upstairs with Laura, crying because she had heard adults shouting.
Ethan ran to her.
The feared billionaire dropped to his knees in the hallway and pulled his daughter against his chest.
“I’m here.”
Sophie clung to him.
“Are we in trouble?”
“No.”
He looked at Norah.
Then corrected himself.
“Yes, sweetheart. There’s a problem. But grown-ups are handling it, and none of this is your fault.”
Norah felt something warm tighten in her chest.
Old Ethan would have hidden everything.
This Ethan told his daughter enough truth to make her feel safe.
Investigators searched Martin’s office.
They found financial records connecting him to Grant.
For years, Martin had sold information about Ethan’s movements.
Evelyn’s schedule.
Board meetings.
Internal investigations.
Even Sophie’s routines.
Ethan sat alone in the library afterward.
Norah found him staring at the piano.
“I hired him.”
“You didn’t make him betray you.”
“I trusted him with my family.”
“That isn’t a crime.”
“It feels like stupidity.”
Norah sat beside him.
“You want to know something annoying?”
“No.”
“You’re going to hear it anyway.”
He sighed.
“Of course.”
“Trusting the wrong person doesn’t make you responsible for what they chose to do.”
He looked at her.
“You believe that?”
“I’m trying to.”
They both knew she was talking about Connor too.
Ethan reached for her hand.
This time she didn’t pull away.
“Norah.”
“Yes?”
“I don’t know what this is.”
“Neither do I.”
“I’m not good at it.”
“That part I believe.”
He laughed.
A real laugh.
Then leaned toward her.
She met him halfway.
Their first kiss was soft.
Careful.
Nothing like the ruthless man everyone feared.
Then Sophie screamed from the hallway.
“Daddy!”
They separated instantly.
Sophie ran into the room holding Laura’s phone.
“There’s a message.”
Ethan took it.
A photograph filled the screen.
It showed Sophie leaving school earlier that week.
Taken from across the street.
Underneath were three words:
May you like
Tomorrow. Come alone.
And attached to the message was the address of an abandoned ballroom Evelyn’s charity had once owned.
